People are shotting olive oil to prevent hangovers but does it really work?

Another day, another social media trend that is taking over TikTok and its rivals.

And this one is a little more aloof, focusing on necking shots of olive oil before having a few too many drinks in your local boozer.

The trend - which isn't a new phenomenon by any means - has slowly trickled to the top of Gen Z popularity in the last few months and concerns pseudo-science around drinking a shot of olive oil to prevent a hangover the morning after having a few too many drinks.

Music producer Benny Blanco, boyfriend of pop star Selena Gomez, popularised the act when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon back in April.

Before sitting down to have a big old swig of red wine with a steak dinner during one of the show's segments, Blanco revealed why olive oil was first on the menu for the 36-year-old.

"My friend Nino taught me this," he said.

"These old guys from Italy came in. They said, ‘Before you drink, you take a shot of this, you can’t get hungover. Impossible'."

Asking the crowd if they'd ever heard of this, Jimmy and the audience were left a little unconvinced.

The Mediterranean old wives' tale behind doing this is that the olive oil coats your stomach and slows down the rate at which you absorb alcohol due to the richness of its healthy monounsaturated fatty acids.

As a result, the classic symptoms of a hangover are reduced due to fatty foods slowing down the process of emptying the stomach and therefore causing a delay in alcohol absorption.

Shot anyone? (Getty Stock Images)

But does it work?

Justin Stebbing, a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Anglia Ruskin University, has given his thoughts in an article for The Conversation. Sadly, for those trying it, the myth remains strong with very little scientific evidence that it has any impact when it comes to a hangover.

"Despite its allure, this claim lacks any scientific backing and should be approached with lots of scepticism," Professor Stebbing writes. But he did confirm that the logic used behind it is sound; its just whether it really has any impact on your physiological reaction to a hangover.

"The theory behind the olive oil trick is that its high-fat content forms a coating on the stomach lining, slowing down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream. This slower absorption is supposed to lessen the intensity of hangovers. While it is true that fatty foods can delay alcohol absorption to some extent, the effectiveness of this tactic is dubious.

"Alcohol absorption primarily occurs in the small intestine, with only about 20 percent being absorbed in the stomach. This means that even if olive oil slows down the initial absorption in the stomach, most alcohol will still be absorbed later in the digestive process."

Essentially you could, in fact, just be delaying the hangover and drawing it out for longer; no one wants that.

On the flip side, Dr. Myro Figura - an anaesthesiologist based in LA - didn't immediately dismiss the trend, saying olive oil 'has a tonne of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories'.

The Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit academic medical centre in the USA, also recommends eating olive oil every day. It says it has been shown to decrease inflammation, lower the risk of heart disease and protect against cancer.

Not the usual way to consume olive oil (Getty Stock Images)

What causes a hangover?

Prof Stebbing explains that you can't really do much to avoid a hangover; not in the short-term anyway.

That's because your body’s metabolism - the natural speed at which it breaks down booze - is what will bring on the big symptoms of a hangover.

We're talking feeling or being sick; dehydration; and a pounding headache. No amount of olive oil can interfere with this, he says.

Maybe stay away from getting suckered in to this trend (Getty Stock Images)

Better ways to avoid a hangover

Drinking a lot of water before, during and after having alcoholic drinks will keep your body topped up with one of the main things it needs to keep the hangover at bay.

And instead of having olive oil, having a hearty meal full of nutritional goodness is a much better alternative.

"Foods rich in protein, fats and complex carbohydrates can provide a more balanced approach to mitigating alcohol’s effects," Prof Stebbing says.

Obviously, not drinking much in the first place is another way to avoid the hangover. And if you do have a few bevs, making sure you've plenty of fruit and veg for the day after will get you feeling better, sooner.